Portrait of a Character – Daniel Beauchaine

Daniel Beauchaine has a history.

Origins

At first, in the older time travel series I had created on my own, Dan was a survivalist and had something of a romance with Alice Trent. As I moved that series to Star Trek fanfiction, and it became Times of the HG Wells, I decided that Alice would only be brought on during an alternate timeline.

Portrayal

Dan is portrayed by Jason Alexander.

Jason Alexander as Daniel Beauchaine (image is for educational purposes only)

I like this actor’s fussiness and nervousness in portrayals. I feel this works well with Dan, who is a mass of inconsistencies and tics, as would befit someone living more than one life. He’s an employee of the Temporal Integrity Commission. He’s an operative for Section 31.

And he’s a member of the rogue group altering time for its own purposes, the Perfectionists.

Personality

Twitchy, nervous and jumpy, Dan has ample reason to feel like everyone’s out to get him.

That’s because they are.

He is not just double crossing; he’s triple crossing.

Hence it cannot be easy, living a life like Dan’s. He is constantly on the lookout, and he can trust no one. So in Shake Your Body, it all points to one end, and one alone.

Mirror Universe

Jason Alexander as MU Daniel Beauchaine (image is for educational purposes only)

In the Mirror universe, I can see Dan as being much more of a survivalist, without the corruption and double dealings he has resorted to in the prime universe.

However, he is not necessarily more moral; I think it’s more that he would be separate from society. Perhaps he’s even a hermit of some sort.

Quote

“Get a hold of yourself, Beauchaine. No one’s going to fault you for any grammatical errors in your damned suicide note.”

Upshot

I don’t know how well I showed Dan’s motivations; this feels like a character I did not serve well. Plus I kind of fell out of love with him, and that seems to show in the writing of him.  So I should rectify that at some point in the future.